what am i doing wrong? (graphics driver issues)

[Reaper 392]

posted this problem in the games section, but this is obviously not a problem with the game, so maybe someone over here can help.

ive been getting incredibly low framerates on far cry (1). the section i am using to test the framerate is the bit where you can see the volcano for the first time.

this is exactly what happened:

- turn PC on, play far cry, get 10-20FPS at best
- use windows automatic driver update thing, play far cry, get 200-300FPS.
- finish playing, turn off PC

- turn on PC, play far cry, get 10-20FPS
- roll back driver, then install Nvidia official driver from nvidia site (not the beta one), play far cry, get 200-300FPS
- finish playing far cry, turn off PC

- turn on PC, play far cry, get 10-20FPS
- get annoyed, ask for help here

anyone know what on earth is going on, because i know full well im out of my depth here

*edit*
just so you know, it could be a VERY basic problem, like not installing the driver properly or something, because i really dont know what im doing with them. i just follow the on screen instructions, then get on with playing far cry

 

[Devlish]

from a completely non-techincal point of view - it seems your drivers not sticking after you switch off. Have you tried driver remover tools before reinstalling? I cant imagine that hasnt already been suggested on the GPU section. To be honest i would use this as an excuse to completely wipe my OS and start from scratch but thats a bit extreme. Another possibility - your card has 768mb and far cry eats that up i believe. Is something taking up that memory that disappears after you quit out to reinstall the drivers? Anyway, doubtless someone along who will be more useful, good luck.

 

[Reaper 392]

from a completely non-techincal point of view - it seems your drivers not sticking after you switch off. Have you tried driver remover tools before reinstalling? I cant imagine that hasnt already been suggested on the GPU section. To be honest i would use this as an excuse to completely wipe my OS and start from scratch but thats a bit extreme. Another possibility - your card has 768mb and far cry eats that up i believe. Is something taking up that memory that disappears after you quit out to reinstall the drivers? Anyway, doubtless someone along who will be more useful, good luck.

havent tried a driver removal. i assume you hit the big button that says uninstall driver. would this mean i have to use the onboard graphics while i reinstall the graphics, because i dont have a lead for that

ps, didnt post in the GPU section. first i posted in the PC games section thinking it was a problem with the game, now i posted in general. would have been more sensible to post there though

 

[Reaper 392]

just uninstalled the driver because i remembered that the graphics worked through the graphics card when i put the computer together

however, i cant seem to install a new driver. i have tried the driver CD and it refuses to run (i click on the DVD in my computer, say that i would like to run the DVD when the message pops up, but nothing happens after that)

i have also tried using the driver software i downloaded from Nvidia and it says it cannot find a suitable device for it.

i am now stuck at some stupidly low resolution, so any help would be much apreciated

 

[ewarwoowar]

-Just download the exact driver from the NV website.
-Don't use any driver uninstallers like driver sweeper to uninstall drivers. Only use the Nvidia uninstaller in control panel.


Here's a method.

1. go to the nvidia website and pre download the drivers to your desktop.
2. got to control panel and programs and features and uninstall drivers.
3. restart
4. delete any nvidia related folders in program files or the root of the C:\ drive
5. empty recycle bin and restart.
6. run the driver install on your desktop
7. Restart
8. Give it a go!

 

[Reaper 392]

thanks. i have already uninstalled the drivers as you probably guessed from my last post. probably went the long way about it, but i uninstalled it from the advanced graphics card properties in the drivers tab and clicked uninstall. will this be ok?

i already have the driver i need downloaded (used it before), so i guess i wont need to download it again

 

[Reaper 392]

ok, i did all of what you said, except for removing the root files (forgot)
no joy

tried again with the clean install, and now i have a more serious version of the problem i had with my DVD drive before:
- any time a disk is in there, it will spin it up, but not recognise a DVD is there (no change in information in the screen on my computer, just says DVD drive D
- when the disk is spinning up, the computer is almost completely unresponsive. mouse works, occasionally start menu works, opening any computer makes the computer hang
- DVD drive itself is very unresponsive to pressing the eject button on the case. it will completely ignore the presses and i had to revert to tapping the button as fast as i could to get it to open.

im going to see if updating the DVD firmware will help, and also start a thread in the technical queries section

*edit*
well, despite what someone told me there is no firmware update on the samsung site. either that, or they have hidden it very well

 

[Reaper 392]

ok, i think i see the problem.

my DVD drive has just cracked its 2nd DVD in a week.

RMA time

*edit*
look what my DVD drive did:

 

[gug54321]

blimey never seen that before!

 

[Reaper 392]

blimey never seen that before!

its happened to me once with an xbox 360 game, forza 2, which actually got cracked in two places in a very similar fashion to that disk, meaning a whole section of the disk was wobbly. however, that had seen hundreds of hours of play, and hadnt exactly been treated the greatest. far cry has seen a maximum of 30 hours play i would say, and has been treated like it was made out of glass

after the forza 2 disk problem, i made sure i kept my disks in a CD holder or CD tray at all times